New housing loan commitments rose by 2 per cent in October, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.The ABS said growth was driven by lending to owner occupiers, which rose 2.2 per cent in October and was up for the fifth consecutive month.Lending to owner occupiers was up by 5.7 per cent over the year to the end of October.Owner occupier first home buyer loan commitments accounted for 29.9 per cent of all owner occupier commitments (excluding refinancing).New lending to investors rose by 1.4 per cent. It fell by 9.7 per cent over the year.The latest housing finance figures are based on data from a new collection called the Economic and Financial Statistics, which replaces the previous publication, Lending to Households and Businesses.The new collection is a result of work by APRA, the Reserve Bank and the ABS to get authorised deposit-taking institutions and other reporting entities to provide consistent reporting that aligns with standard instructions and definitions.